TV Watching Is Bad for Babies' Brains

â*PHOENIX*â - posted on 12/09/2010
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Who agrees or disagrees with this?

*Personally I don’t agree whole heartedly with this “Study” *

Babies who watch TV are more likely to have delayed cognitive development and language at 14 months, especially if they're watching programs intended for adults and older children. We probably knew that 24 and Grey's Anatomy don't really qualify as educational content, but it's surprising that TV-watching made a difference at such a tender age.

Babies who watched 60 minutes of TV daily had developmental scores one-third lower at 14 months than babies who weren't watching that much TV. Though their developmental scores were still in the normal range, the discrepancy may be due to the fact that when kids and parents are watching TV, they're missing out on talking, playing, and interactions that are essential to learning and development.

This new study, which appeared in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, followed 259 lower-income families in New York, most of whom spoke Spanish as their primary language at home. Other studies examining higher-income families have also come to the same conclusion: TV watching not only isn't educational, but it seems to stunt babies' development.

But what about "good" TV, like Sesame Street? The researchers didn't find any pluses or minuses when compared to non-educational programs designed for small children, like SpongeBob SquarePants. Earlier research by some of the same scientists, most of whom are at New York University School of Medicine-Bellevue Hospital Center, has found that parents whose children watch non-educational TV programs like Spongebob SquarePants spend less time reading to their children or teaching them.

At this point, parents reading this are probably saying D'oh! TV is so often a parent's good friend, keeping kids happily occupied so the grownups can cook dinner, answer the phone, or take a shower. But clearly that electronic babysitter is not an educational aid.

The bottom line: This latest study adds more fuel to a recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics that babies under age 2 watch no TV at all. If you've just got to watch Dexter, it's best to make sure the tots are fast asleep.

MOST HELPFUL POSTS

September - posted on 12/09/2010

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Being married to a man that works in the field of early childhood development I completely agree with the study. I believe the study is referring to children who watch more than 2 hours of tv a day. Although our son (2 yrs. old) does watch tv, it's very limited and he did not watch tv at all before turning 1. Our son loves to read so we spend a lot of time reading. Personally, I love the snuggle time it provides! :)

My nephews watched TV all day, literally, for the first few years they lived in Canada. They are fluent in English and Japanese, can read, write and count in both languages, and are skilled in sports (which they just started participating in in the last year). The TV is on whenever my partner is home and my boy does not watch it - he plays. He has the attention span of a 1 year old because he is a 1 year old - not because he is exposed to commercial television. He was early in a lot of his physical/motor development and is right on target with everything else. Treating the TV as a babysitter probably isn't healthy, but its not necessarily THE thing that causes developmental delays. A lack of interaction with parents, caregivers and other kids, coupled with prolonged and regular exposure to passive TV viewing, are likely contributing factors to significant delays, but not stand alone causes. Studies like this can be helpful in addressing cases of excess but they also label TV watchers as lazy and neglectful parents, which isn't a positive solution.

Just gotta say - the inherent superiority in the posts from the non-TV watchers kind of irks me.

Let me just say (and yes, this is going to be a little long..) when I was pregnant, I felt strongly about not allowing my children to watch a lot of TV-- EVER.

Had my son.. Suffered from SEVERE PPD for almost 2 years. Yes, some days it was so bad my son sat in front of the TV b/c I just lost all interest in doing anything.

PPD subsided around April '10. So my son watched less TV than usual.. We worked on puzzles, I read to him several times a day, we worked on ABC's and 1,2,3's several times a day (we have a whole bunch of flash cards) and worked on naming animals and objects.

Fast forward to August '10.. My son started watching more TV b/c I was in so much pain I couldn't lift him, couldn't run after him (still have his old playpen)- could barely move. It's a little better as of the last month or so (still in pain, but I have more good days now than I used to). My son counts in Chinese, Spanish AND English. He wouldn't have been able to do that unless he watched his Kai-Lan and Dora..

SO, what do I think of this study.. I don't totally agree. I think if your kid watches TV and you're right there interacting with them, it doesn't hinder the learning process, but actually helps them learn. Sure, if you're just plopping your baby in front of the TV by themselves for hours a day (which shouldn't happen anyway) and completely ignoring them.. They're not going to learn much at all. But if you're there and you're singing the songs and counting along, it does help.

Here is more:According to Dimitri Christakis of Children's Hospital in Seattle and writer of the The Elephant in the Living Room: Make Television Work for Your Kids, while older children can learn from educational shows, no study has shown that babies benefit from watching television and video. In fact, it can actually do harm:

The first 2 years of your kid is a critical time for brain development. Watching TV steals time away from your kid’s exploring, interacting, playing with you and others, and actively learning by manipulating things around him. These are activities that help your kid develop the skills they need to grow intellectually, socially and emotionally. When your kid plays, he is actively learning about how the world works. He wires his brain by experimenting with cause and effect. When your kid interacts with people, he meets his emotional milestones. TV keeps your kid away from these activities.The first 2 years of your kid is also a critical time for learning language. Language is only learned through interaction with others, not by passive listening to TV. If you not respond to your kid's attempt to communicate, your kid could miss this important milestone. Also, your kid will not learn to talk by listening to TV characters baby talk or talk down to him. Your kid learns to talk by mimicking adult language. He learns from the adults’ simplified but correctly pronounced speech.Note that when your baby smiles at the TV, the TV does not smile back. This may affect him socially and psychologically.

48 Comments

my son watches tv . he's 12 months old and according to his pediatrician he is "linguistically intelligent" for his age. Mind you he also spends a lot of time having stories read to him and he does watch shows like dor the explorer (and that diego show) as well as playschool. all i can say is everything in moderation

Personally, after watching some of the new shows that are coming out for kids, I won't be letting my child watch any of it. We can't even afford TV so it won't matter anyway. This new crap on the television, it's so artistically horrible, I can see why it's rotting kids' brains. What happened to Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck? Tom and Jerry? Sigh...

@Kelly H:"White noise--like airplanes or traffic--does not distract the mind like TV which accesses the part of the mind that processes information. TV also provides visual stimulation unless you keep the doors on the cabinet closed."

Ishkabibble, Ok? For a TV to be a white noise, you don't even have to be in the very same room. You can be in the next room. I know for my mom, she used to always have the TV on while she was cooking, baking, or cleaning. She didn't stop to see what was on the TV, she just went about her business. Turns out, I do the same :)

If you have the TV on and the volume turned down low, chances are you're not going to give the TV a second thought if you're doing something. But at least it's not deafeningly silent in your home. Hope that makes enough sense.. I have to go get ready to go somwhere, though..

White noise--like airplanes or traffic--does not distract the mind like TV which accesses the part of the mind that processes information. TV also provides visual stimulation unless you keep the doors on the cabinet closed.That is why TV as back ground noise is more harmful or distracting than traffic, music, or other constant noises.

Emma, I think you are right. I do know some kids who can sit and watch TV for an hour at a time without moving, but most don't. I think the hour figure was spread over a whole day. Like, my son watches 20 minutes in the morning before school if he finishes getting ready in time. Then another 20 minutes after school before starting his homework. That is only 40 minutes, but he usually has computer time or plays video games for a little while in the evenings while I cook if his homework is finished.

One last note about kids learning to "count" or "read" from TV. That is not really happening. Just because a child can say the numbers in any language (even their own) does not mean they understand the meaning behind them and can actually count. If you want to see if you child has just memorized sounds or is actually counting, have the child add two numbers. If they get the correct sum on their own, they are counting. If not, they are just saying the words. I'm not saying that learning the words is not important, it is, but it doesn't mean that they know what the words mean.My son can "count to 10" in Korean b/c his Master counts in Korean in class, but my son does not actually know the Korean numbers system.

60 minutes a day? Can a kid even concentrate on the tv for 60 minutes because all the kids I know are like "mum can we watch this" but them 'watching' it includes asking for snacks, fighting with siblings and running off to play with something else after 20 minutes or so and they don't have ADHD. After 6 kids go to school all day to learn things anyway.

And I just wanted to say that I agree with LaCi about background noise.. Growing up mainly on or around military bases, you get accustomed to noise. I understand even if you haven't grown up like that, silence can be deafening.. Just saying this is why I can't stand it. We always have TV or music on in our house, too.

I don't entirely agree, although plopping kids in front of the tv all day is not a good idea. One line in this stood out the most to me..."when kids and parents are watching TV, they're missing out on talking, playing, and interactions that are essential to learning and development." If you want smart kids, play with them, talk with them, read to them. Capture every teachable moment.

I did find a long term study on exposure of 2-4 year olds to television, unfortunately its entirely observational. No other factors are taken into consideration. Unless we've got a thousand kids exposed to the exact (or at least close to) the same lifestyles, families, etc, I just don't see how you can truly measure the effect.

Which is a great article and study, it just doesn't tell me what the parents are like, what the lifestyle is like, so on.

Unfortunately, watching television does not have to mean more sodas, not playing outside and thus weight gain, correlation doesn't equate cause. There are far too many factors to determine the particular causes.

I agree that excessive TV watching is usually an indicator of poor parenting, and that it could be the parenting, in addition to the TV causing the problematic issues. I also feel, though, that even with good parenting, constant exposure to TV and noise can damage the way we think, process information, and learn. It can also cause stress. No one enjoys being yanked back and forth between two things striving for our attention, so why put our children in situations where they will have to deal with that?

I understand that you do not credit studies (except the one you posted), but I do not really see how to debate without evidence and, other than studies, I do not know where to look for evidence in this area.

Oh, and I believe, truly, that television is correlated to development in the sense that more television may mean a lack of parental involvement. If mom and dad are sitting around staring at the television all day and kiddo is essentially alone, then sure. I believe that would impact. I will always believe though, that it's all about the situation and the parents attention to their child.

I just don't buy it. I DO agree that poor parental interaction would damage a child. What I found more shocking was the 4th link and the percentage of kids that could read. I think the stats listed in that link show extremely poor parenting more than just television.

"The first article says that kids get distracted,"Yes, that is exactly what I am saying--TV distracts them from play and keeps them from concentrating on play for extended periods of time. The study cited in the article finds that is linked to shorter attention spans.

I can't speak for what your child would have become with less TV or how mine would have developed with more TV. That would just be speculation and has no value in debate.

"The third link is about aggressive behavior, not attention span,"Yes, I thought I noted that in my explanation about the link, but I'm sorry if I neglected to. The article in the OP mentioned a link in aggressive behavior and TV, so I included that. I'm not sure what I wrote that implied that one was about attention span, but I do apologize for my lack of clarity.

The first article says that kids get distracted, it doesn't show anything permanent.

As for the second, maybe if I hadn't had the tv on my son would be a child prodigy, since his ability to recognize words has been fantastic and his attention span is better than mine.

The third link is about aggressive behavior, not attention span, which I just don't agree with in general but it even throws out the disclaimer that there are other factors involved "Direct child TV exposure and household TV use were the primary explanatory variables. Additional risk factors included neighborhood disorder and maternal factors like depression" and nothing was noted in the outlines about the types of television children watch impacting aggression.

"It’s estimated that 75 percent of very young children in the United States live in homes where the television is on most of the time, even though the kids often aren’t watching it. University of Massachusetts researchers recently studied how TV background noise might affect young children. The study, published in the current issue of the journal Child Development, looked at 50 1-, 2- and 3-year-olds. Each child came to a lab with a parent and was allowed to play for an hour with various toys. For half the time, a television was on in the room, showing an episode of the adult game show Jeopardy! as well as commercials. During the other half hour, the TV was turned off.

As expected, the children paid little attention to the adult television show, glancing at it for less than a few seconds at a time, and less than once a minute. Even so, the distraction of the background noise had a significant effect on how children at every age played. When the television was on, the children played with each toy for significantly shorter periods of time, and focused attention during play was also shorter compared to how they played when the TV was off.

Researchers said that even though the children weren’t interested in the show, background TV is an “ever-changing audiovisual distractor” that disrupts their ability to sustain various types of play. The finding is important because many well-meaning parents who wouldn’t let their young children watch television may not realize that even adult programs that don’t interest children still can have an effect.

“Background TV is potentially a chronic environmental risk factor affecting most American children,” said Marie Evans Schmidt, a research associate at the Center on Media and Child Health at Children’s Hospital in Boston and lead author of the study, in a news release. “Parents should limit their young children’s exposure.”

Here is an article from the New York Post that explains how having TV on as background noise can delay language development (It sites the same U of MI study as the article above, and also several studies from U of Maryland)

" At the University of Maryland, a series of studies by speech scientist Rochelle Newman have shown that infants can't pick out words in a stream of speech in the midst of background chatter. The ability to catch individual words, known as "segmenting speech," is widely known as an important prerequisite for language development. Several studies by George Hollich, a developmental psychologist at Purdue University, have found similar problems with babies and noise, even at levels that adults might consider relatively quiet."

This one links excessive TV to more violent behaviors from Pediatrics and Adolescence Medicine:

Laci, I think you misunderstood what I said. The study you posted is about whether or not TV causes ADHD or other attention problems. I did not say that TV cases ADHD, I said TV amplifies symptoms in children who already have ADHD or some other behavioral or attention deficit issues. Since the above study looked only at TV as a cause for normal children to develop ADHD, it is irrelevant to what I said. I do stand by the fact that a side effect of TV is a decreased attention span (not to the point of a diagnosable disorder, but decreased none the less). I don't have time to read through studies today, but I will see if I can find some articles.

"Several limitations to this study warrant consideration. First, the measure that we used for attentional problems is not necessarily indicative of clinically diagnosed ADHD. However, it was derived from the subscale of the Child Behavior Checklist, which was found to have a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 99% compared with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition criteria in a large, population-based sample.37 In a population referred to a neuropsychology clinic, the overall accuracy of the Child Behavior Checklist relative to structured interview for ADHD using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria was 69%.38 Furthermore, the proportion of children who met our criterion for having "attentional problems" was 10%, which roughly corresponds with population-based estimates of the prevalence of ADHD.1–4 Nevertheless, we have not in fact studied or found an association between television viewing and clinically diagnosed ADHD.

Second, we relied on parental report of television viewed. Although this may not be an entirely accurate measure of the true amount, there are no a priori reasons to believe that its imprecision would bias our findings in one direction or another. To the extent that it is merely inaccurate, it should bias them toward the null.

Third, we cannot draw causal inferences from these associations. It could be that attentional problems lead to television viewing rather than vice versa. However, to mitigate this limitation, we exploited the longitudinality of the data set and focused on television viewing at 1 and 3 years of age, well before the age at which most experts believe that ADHD symptoms are manifest.32,39 It is also possible that there are characteristics associated with parents who allow their children to watch excessive amounts of television that accounts for the relationship between television viewing and attentional problems. For example, parents who were distracted, neglectful, or otherwise preoccupied might have allowed their children to watch excessive amounts of television in addition to having created a household environment that promoted the development of attentional problems. Although we adjusted for a number of potential confounders, including home environment, maternal depression, cognitive stimulation, and emotional support, our adjustment may have been imperfect. Finally, we had no data on the content of the television being viewed. Some research indicates that educational television (eg, Sesame Street) may in fact promote attention and reading among school-aged children.24 Others have disagreed and posited that even such programming can be detrimental.40 If exposure to certain kinds of programming is beneficial, even at a very young age, then our results represent conservative estimates of the risks of television as a medium in general because some proportion of the programming may have moderated the detrimental aspects of others and deviated the results toward the null. However, more research is needed on the effects of varying content of television, particularly for children who are preschool age."

I agree with the study. That said, I did use Baby Einstein DVD's occasionally when my son was younger if he was crying non-stop (for some reason, if I sat on the sofa and held him while playing the Baby Mozart or Baby Beethoven he would calm down, but only if I held him, so I got to watch too!), and sometimes if I was on the phone.I don't think he ever racked up more than an hour in a single day, and we didn't use them everyday.

I noticed that so many of you keep the TV on for "background noise" which is not good for children. Fist, I really can't understand why parents would want constant noise all the time anyway, as most of them are constantly saying how they would love a moment of peace and quiet....well, turn of the tv! LOL! (EDIT: That sounded snarky when I re-read it, it was meant jokingly...).Several studies have shown that children who are exposed to TV as background noise have shorter attention spans. Many parents proudly announce "my child doesn't really "watch it" she just glances up now and then." Well, that is why, she is distracted and trying to focus on two things at once, so she is being pulled back and forth between the TV and her playing. The longer she is forced to do this, the shorter her attention span will get. When she reaches a point in her imaginative play where she has to "make a decision" or decide what happens next, she will turn to the TV rather than work on a solution herself. When she gets board with the TV, it is back to play until she reaches another mental crossroad.Constant exposure to TV, even if the child is not "watching" also amplifies symptoms of ADHD and other behavioral illnesses.

I'm all for limiting television for children. That being said, My tv is usually on, it's usually the news, mostly for background noise.

Now, my issue with this stuff is what baby watches television? My son is about to be 2.5 and he can't sit still long enough to watch a cartoon. He has hardly any interest in the TV, other than it being background noise. When he was a baby he had zero interest in it. So that's where this is losing me. Should I have limited his radio listening as well? Because, for him, tv.. radio.. same thing since I listen to talk (howard stern) or the news (more talk).

This has more to do with lack on interaction between people, like leaving a kid with a TV while you go do your own thing, than the television itself.

I was JUST trying to start a conversation on this, and I saw your post! I am out on this one. My 8 mos old will watch occassionally whatever my 4 year old is watching. Definately not more than 1 hour per day, but I do tend to have the tv on when I am breastfeeding.

Julianne, I doubt the lack of tv has anything to do with your daughter's development. My daughter has been exposed to tv and was/is very forward with her communication skills (to the point where, as I said before, people mistake her for a 3 year old, and she's only 22mths).

I guess I just don't buy that tv, or lack thereof, has that much impact. Rate of development depends on so much more than that. Personality, genetics, social environment, and most importantly the amount of time spent talking and exploring new concepts.

In my case, I disagree completely. I think that interaction is key and TV CAN help encourage communication and learning. I am in no way suggesting that tv should be used as a babysitter or kids should be plopped in front of the tv 24/7. We always have the tv on as background noise. Maybe the fact that I have a busy little beaver helps. He doesn't normally just sit and watch any show. His favorite ones come on and for the most part we converse, I ask questions, he asks questions, we repeat silly things that are said... I have a 26 month old boy who can use 8-10 word sentences, counts to 20, knows most of his alphabet and remembers random things I told him a month ago-don't think the tv has affected him negatively at all

My daughter (now 11 months) watches Treehouse daily & if anything she learns from it. She is not developmentally delayed at all. Crawled at 6months, walked at 9months. Talks, waves, claps,....etc. She's very smart to say the least! Ahead of the majority of babies her age.

Since gabby doesn't watch any tv. Maybe her developing early is because of this? She is already stringing together sentences and she will be a year in 4 days. She can say a b c d e and some of her numbers. She knows lots of peoples names as well. I don't know, i just thought she was developing early because i did too.

We have the tv on most of the time for background noise. The boys aren't always watching, but they do watch. Zach actually gets very excited when he sees certain kids shows come on. He dances to The Hotdog Dance, it is so cute!Anyway, Cole is 34 months and talks like a 4 year old. He counts to 20, knows all his colors, is learning his shapes, and can say his ABC's. He can also count backwards from 10, thanks to Special Agent Oso. And he has a very vivid imagination. Zach is only 15 months, but he is learning his animal sounds, sings and dances, and is very verbal (although not very understandable yet.) I interact with them a lot though. We read a lot, we play together, and we talk about what they watch. We're never just glued to the TV. And the boys would go outside in an instant over watching TV, it's me who doesn't want to. It's too dang cold out there!

I'd have to agree and disagree. I have 4 kids and do inhome daycare. I rarley use the tv. They actually have to earn tv time here. None of them really ask to watch it. My kids have never really been into tv that much either. Movies they love though. But I don't even think a child can actually sit through an adult show and actually sit the whole time! I mean I know my kids would of never sat down to watch anything with me that was a cartoon at a yr or a smidge older. My middle daughter will be 3 in Feb and she's really the only one who gets into tv. She watches an hr of Dora a day. I don't mind Dora at all! My daughter can count to 5 in Spanish and 25 in English. She can say please and thank you in English and Spanish as well. I got her a Dora backpack, and a stuffed boots so her and my youngest who will be 2 in Jan can go on their own adventures. My youngest really likes Diego, Dora's cousin. She'll be glued for about 20 min than lose intrest. They would all rather play, do crafts, make up songs, dance, play games, ride toys, and sing versus tv. So to me this really isn't an issue!

But I can see it as being used as a sitter for some parents and I personally don't see anything wrong with letting your child watch a half hr of tv while you shower, or cook, or clean as long as it's educational and you're still supervising your children.

That's a good point Loureen. If Milla does pay attention to the TV (which is not often) it is to ask a question about what she's seeing. For example, there was an elephant on Bindi this morning, using his trunk to pick up food and eat. Milla asked what he was doing. I used it as an opportunity to explain how elephants use their trunks like she uses her hands etc. We had a 10min conversation about elephants after that lol.

I don't think a person should intentionally sit a baby in front of a TV a few toys on a mat keeps them generally happy having said that I don't think incidental television does any damage nor does monitored and timed TV for a toddler , I was just saying cooper is full blown speaking in long sentences and stories he doesn't know when to stop haha he has excellent cognitive skills , we pay a lot of attention to reading , describing things and asking him questions and we have the TV on most of the time .

Yeah I'm skeptical. If a child is spending hours a day watching TV and would rather do that than go outside and play, or do some painting, then yes it's a problem. But for kids who just have incidental tv viewing? I don't see the big deal.

My almost 2yo probably 'watches' about an hour a day (Bindi the friggin Jungle Girl, and In the Night Garden) but it is pretty much always turned on for background noise. I can safely say it has not delayed her cognitive development one bit lol. Strangers don't believe me when I tell them she's not even 2.

We don't watch T.V personally i think its stupid, why watch others do stuff you could just do yourself. I doubt that a little show every now and then is going to cause major problems in development though. I could see if a child lives watching T.V it would cause a problem.

I have mixed feelings on this. My daughter didn't/doesn't watch a lot of TV but she watches some. What she DOES watch is never commercial television. The first time she ever saw an ad she came running to me saying that the movie wasn't working and to turn the movie back on. I think because she never watched a lot of commercial TV she tends to have better concentration than most kids her age. She can plop down and work on something (like coloring or playing with Legos or her play kitchen) for almost 2 hours without losing focus of what she's doing. Most kids are up after 10-15 minutes because they're bored.

My husband watched TONS of TV as a kid and I think it's partly responsible for his slight ADD. It's weird but every 10-15 minutes (about the length of time between commercials) he has to stop what he's doing and do something else.

I dont think this is 100% true my son watches a lot of Disney and pixar movies and some shows for older kids and he will be 3 the end of this month and he can speak very well and he can count to 12 say his ABC's and a bunch of other things i mean if all kids do is watch tv that a totally different story!